Mike Repole is truly a good guy and he’s great for this game on all levels. He’s just having a very public adjustment to the fame and the worst thing that can happen is for him to burn himself out by trying so hard to be the perfect owner. Like celebrity or Congress, there is no such thing. Unless they’re a Kardashian, celebrities have been working on their craft most of their lives and the sudden adulation can be difficult to adjust to.

We, as an industry, wanted the bigger, faster, better Thoroughbred. So man invented something that slows down the evolutionary process. In the wild, if an animal can’t keep up, it is left behind. Isn’t it up to us as owners and trainers to say, “this horse bleeds – he’s not meant to be a racehorse.” No, we shoot ‘em up and send ‘em out. So we let this happen and the solution we’re about to put into place is going to make it ten times worse.

Regular people assume that folks in the game can make stacks of cash through the windows. Going to a football or baseball game is fun because you cheer for your favorite team and they either win or lose. Racing is the same – we just give you more chances.

Horseracing is inherently rhythmic: it is hearts pulsing and hooves pounding, heads turning and hands moving, sweat dripping and legs tangling. All this at 45 miles per hour in a tightly packed herd hurling themselves around hairpin turns – it puts the Quickstep to shame. Like other well paid performers, racehorses each have their own [...]

Horses had just come off the track, so trainers were still in shock somewhat about what they’d just seen. Therefore, when asked about how their horse’s trip went, how they’d come out of it, or how they felt, they can be forgiven for not having their Trainer Speak phasers on stun. Graham Motion didn’t lose, [...]

Six months ago, Barry Irwin asked to be my friend on Facebook. I sat looking at the invite for all of two seconds before clicking Confirm. Since then, we’ve posted on each other’s racing notes, seen pictures of each other’s families, and sent a few emails back and forth about this and that. When he [...]